Diane Warren photographed in 2018.
Kwaku AlstonSongwriter Diane Warren will receive the Icon Award at the 12th annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards on March 20. Mitchell Leib, former president of music and soundtracks for Disney’s live action motion picture division, will receive this year’s Legacy Award.
“We are so happy to be able to honor two individuals who have been vital to the craft of telling stories with music,” Joel C. High, president of the Guild of Music Supervisors, said in a statement. “This is a big year!”
The Icon Award was created to celebrate those who have made legendary contributions to the music and film industry. Previous recipients include Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, Kenny Loggins, and Marc Shaiman.
“Thank you, Guild of Music Supervisors, for this amazing honor,” Warren said in a statement. “I see that real icons have received this award previously, and I am proud and humbled to be in their company although I don’t really feel like I am one yet. I feel like I’m just getting started so maybe I’ll be an icon when I grow up if I ever grow up that is! I love writing songs for movies, and I’ve worked with a lot of you on them. There’s nothing like the perfect marriage of the right song in just the right place in just the right movie. I love being a part of it and always will.”
Warren won a Grammy for writing “Because You Loved Me” from the 1996 film Up Close and Personal and an Emmy in 2016 for writing “Til It Happens to You” from the film The Hunting Ground. She has been nominated for 12 Oscars and is vying for a 13th nomination this year for her song “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days. Oscar nominations will be announced on Feb. 8.
The Legacy Award is bestowed to a music supervisor who has made an impact within the industry over the course of their career. Previous recipients include Maureen Crowe, Bob Hunka, Joel Sill, Gary Lemel, and Chris Montan.
“It means so very much to me to be honored by my peers and friends at the GMS and to receive the Legacy award,” Leib said in a statement. “For me, it puts an exclamation point on the closing of this chapter of my professional career as a music supervisor, albeit mostly as a studio music executive at Disney, to whom I will forever be grateful. I started this journey as a rookie independent music supervisor and finish now having achieved every goal imaginable in my wildest dreams.”
The nominees in 16 categories will be announced via a live streaming event on Feb. 10 on the Guild of Music Supervisors’ social media channels across YouTube and Facebook.
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
